


Life is not better under the sea

by JoliesBookOfCreation



Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-07-24 10:24:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7504671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoliesBookOfCreation/pseuds/JoliesBookOfCreation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Kurt returned to him, tail swaying under the water as he tried to remain surfaced, he was surprised to find out that the first thing that came out of Warren’s mouth wasn’t ‘You’re a freak.’ Or ‘ I thought mermen didn’t exist?’ but instead “Holy fuck, you’re gorgeous.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Life is not better under the sea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chocojava](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chocojava/gifts).



Life as a merman should be perfect, one would think. In reality, you couldn’t be further from the truth: being raised in community made mostly of females, albert gorgeous ones, all of which ignoring your total existence with the exception of your own mother was no easy way of living. Despite the glares sent his way, the curses and insults thrown behind his back and in his face, she was always there for him. There for his first hunt, his coming of age scale change, nursing him back to health after a vicious shark attack and of course, when he finally reached the conclusion that leaving for land would be the best.

She didn’t seem surprised by the idea, probably having been predicting it ever since she saw that the awaiting baby ended up being a male. Since they were an abnormality, a mutation, most mermen either stuck by each other in the community, migrated alone to other seas or left for land. Once in a blue moon one would actually find a mermaid to fall in love with and mate. But he has always been alone and the feeling of being different, unable to fit in would never fully rest until he left the toxic community. She agreed, her eyes hard and barely betraying any sadness as she gave him a name and direction.

“Find Genosha.” She said. “Go to the Professor.”  
Curiosity won over subtlety and he immediately asked if that’s his father. Her face dropped, the frown deepening as she shook her head, voice faint as if she was lost in memories. “No..A friend. He’ll help you.”

And here he was now, swimming his way over to the island. It took three whole days, plus the breaks and resting, not to mention having to catch food before he surfaced and saw the majestic sight that was Genosha.  
Golden beaches, green forests, mountains and the faints signs of a developing population, he wasn’t sure exactly what the humans did.. Everything ready for him to explore to his heart’s content. He swam over to the shore, noting that it was lacking any form of human life and crawled all the way over to the sand. Kurt sighed, rolling on his back and not caring about the sand sticking to his body, too busy concentrating on the magic required to get rid of his tail. Soon enough, it kicked in motion and the boy was surrounded by a blueish light, powerful enough to blind anyone within a three meters radius. It grew and grew for a few minutes, not covering the whimpers of pain and sounds of bones snapping and rearranging in place before slowly dying out, leaving behind a pale skinned, naked, raven haired boy which was certainly lacking a tail and panting to catch his breath.

He didn’t bother to move for a good 5 minutes, relaxing in the sand and enjoying the rays of the sun warming his skin. Once he got bored with that, his first action was to wriggle his toes. Sure, it probably looked ridiculous and it wasn’t the first time he’d ever changed into a human but the pain remained the same, as well as the curiosity of having legs. Two of them. They would never cease to amaze him. He was about to get up and go looking for the “Professor” when a loud shriek made him flinch and cover his ears.

“Oh my god! He’s, like, totally naked!”

“Jubilee, it’s rude to stare- Oh for- Ororo, you’re supposed to be a better example to her!”

“Right, right! Hey, get so- why is he running towards us?”

Ah, humans! Kurt grinned, quickly getting up from the sand and skipping over to the girls. They should be able to help him find the Professor! They seemed friendly enough, even if two of the three had unusual hair colors, well, Kurt couldn’t say much. His natural skin was blue, after all.  
“Excuse me, ladies, would you be able to to help me-“

‘Put some clothes on?Yeah, sure.”

“I-I’m afraid I don’t have any..?”

“How can you not have any clothes with you? How did you get here?”

“I-..”

“He swam.”

Three heads turned to the redhead staring at him with curious blue eyes. “He’s a merman.”  
Everything seemed to have cleared up because the other two girls visibly relaxed and suddenly seemed more understanding. However, an awkward silence fell and everyone was left staring at everyone, the girls trying to understand how the body in front of them was supposed to have a tail, while Kurt was left wondering about human manners and customs. Eventually, he began to grow nervous under all the staring, his cheeks flushing and beginning to sway from one feet to another.

“E-Erm..If you wouldn’t mind…showing me where to find the “Professor?”

The girls snapped out of the daze they were under ( funny, he wasn’t even using his powers), suddenly refusing to meet his eyes as they blushed as well. A brightly colored one grabbed his arm and began to drag him off all the while chattering his ear off. “You know, we were actually planning on going for a swim but this is way more interesting! We’ll drop you off right at the Professor so you’ll be able to get some clothes. Want to hang out after that?”

“ A-Ah…Yes?” He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say but from the way the white haired one cheered and the faint smile on the redhead’s face, it was probably the right answer.

Finding the Professor wasn’t as difficult as he thought it would be. Neither was sneaking into a whole city stark naked. The redhead ( “You can call me Jean.”) told him that she was using her telepathic powers to manipulate people into thinking he was wearing clothes. Ororo, it seemed, could control the weather and Jubilee could generate what she liked to call “fireworks”. They explained that they were, in fact, mutants and not exactly humans. Genosha was a peaceful island where mutants, humans and other creatures such as himself could cohabit together.

The Professor kindly welcomed him into his “School for gifted youngsters” and after a quick shower plus new clothes, they were finally having a formal talk.  
“Mother told me to come here. Said you’d help.”

“Your mother? And her name is?”

“ Raven Darkholme.”

A set of wide eyes and a warm, tingling sensation in his head told him that the Professor was searching through his memories. He stared at Kurt as if he had just had a revelation and was seeing him in a new light.

A frown appeared on his face, reminding Kurt of his mom; a mix of fondness, sadness and longing. He didn’t know what happened between them but they obviously missed each other. Still, the professor gave him a roof under his head, clothes ,food and even offered education if Kurt was interested. To which he immediately agreed because he wanted to know more than before, especially after learning about the existence of mutants.

And one month later Kurt could already feel the changes in him; he was more open than when he lived in the sea, more affectionate and let himself explore, be curious. The girls often took him shopping and he now couldn’t complain about the lack of clothes considering his closet was full of them. Scott took it upon him to take him to games and teach him how to fight in case he’ll ever need it or simply to keep in shape. He honestly didn’t like it or saw the point until Scott pointed out that just because Genosha was peaceful, that didn’t mean there weren’t conflicts at all. All in all, everyone had accepted him easily and even his natural form, considering how often they took trips to the beach so they could play and swim together.

Surprisingly, it was the Professor that came up with the idea of a field trip. A month after moving in to the school, Kurt learnt his way around the city pretty well and everyone unanimously voted that he should go see the mountains in addition to the rest of the island.

And that’s how they found themselves going up the mountain later in the afternoon, heavy backpacks hurting their spines. They had to drag Kurt up each time he’d stop and admire butterflies flying by him or weird looking flowers. It got worse when they reached the tall forest and he tried to climb up trees.They didn’t climb too much because the Professor wanted them home early and though they complained, he promised another trip soon, this time with him and Hank so they’d be more safer. They stopped when they reached the point of water flowing from the stones and falling down into a beautiful lake, right below, forming a cascade.

The marvelous sight had them sit and stare at it for at least an hour, taking the time to eat some food so they would regain some strength for the trip back home, talking between themselves when a voice yelled at them out of nowhere.

“Hey! Get out, you’re trespassing!” Scott and Peter were the first ones to jump up in alert, the same time a boy fell down from the tress right in front of them.

“Are you deaf? I told you all to get the fuck out!”

Kurt would’ve probably said something about the language the stranger used if he weren’t too busy staring at the wings coming out from his back. Big, white, alluring wings that seemed to whine in the light, connected to a powerful back and arms, muscles tense as if ready to fight, his gaze moving up to a handsome pale face scowling right at them. Right.

“ ..and I said give us some time, we aren’t going to spend the night here, what’s your problem!?”

“This territory belongs to the Cheyarafim clan you dumbasses, you’ve got no rights to show up here.”

Scott looked like he wanted to agree but Kurt just grabbed him by the shoulder and shook his head. It wasn’t worth fighting for, they still needed to get home, not to mention the punishment the Professor would put them through if they got into trouble. The boy narrowed his eyes at them, wings spreading more and Kurt suddenly took notice of the sharp talons on them.

“Right. Whatever, let’s go guys. It’s not worth arguing with this jackass. We can come with the Prof next time around.”

“Who are you calling a jackass?! And you think I’d let you in again after kicking you out!?” It sounded like a challenge and this time, it wasn’t Scott who fell for it but Peter.

“ Yeah? And who will keep us out? You and what army?” he rolled his eyes, gesturing with his arms around them, subtly pointing out at the other boy being outnumbered. It seemed to be the wrong thing to say because in a flash, the wings flexed and the boy was gone, flying right at Peter who luckily dodged it with his speed. He seemed stubborn to catch Peter, seizing and opportunity when the silver haired boy appeared next to Kurt, looking as bored as ever as he announced their departure.

“Right, let’s go guys, bird brain over here is done trying to show off.”

The boy roared and flew right at them yet again, looking more angry and threatening than before. Peter didn’t have a problem moving out of the way but Kurt? He just froze in surprise, standing in the way at the mass of muscle and feathers making it’s way over to him, apparently content with just getting to beat someone from their group if he couldn’t catch the speedster. Kurt’s feet quickly left the ground, his mind still in a haze because he was pretty heavy in his natural form but as a human? Just how strong was the winged boy?

He was soon pushed against a tree, a hand grabbing him by the shirt with the other ready to punch him, with a face almost pressing into his and blue eyes shining dangerously. He didn’t want to but with how angry the other was, the only way to get out of the situation was to use his powers on him.

“Let me go. Hitting me won’t help with anything.”

The boy sneered in return and the fist came closer, Kurt’s reflexes finally waking up and grabbing the pale wrist in front of him. It only seemed to urge the boy on so he concentrated on trying to calm him down.

“Look, we were…just trying to have fun. We’ll get out of your way and you won’t see us again. So let me go?”

Blue eyes seemed to stare at him for what felt like forever before the space between them suddenly grew bigger, the boy letting him go, sparing him a passing glance before taking off flying. Kurt stared at the figure growing smaller and smaller in the sky, before realizing something. He left him in the tree, with no way of getting down except for climbing. Apparently his friends came to the same conclusion from their panicked yelling. In the end, it took him ten minutes to convince them to let him climb back down and they arrived back at the mansion 30 minutes late. Looks like they were still going to get punished..

The next day, Kurt decided to take advantage of his newfound climbing skills and returned back to the mountain, alone this time, set on looking for a certain winged boy. He told everyone he was going shopping, even took some money with him so they wouldn’t ask too many questions, refusing the help of the girls when they offered to come with him.

It didn’t take too long for him to find the boy, or rather, for him to find Kurt. Though, having a bird’s eye point of view certainly counted as an advantage. He didn’t seem too happy to see Kurt going by the way his arms crossed over his pale, naked chest (where did his shirt go?), face settling into an annoyed frown, muscles tensing in a familiar way from yesterday, almost ready to fight and damn if it wasn’t distracting.

“…lied, you said you wouldn’t come back.”

“Huh?” He was also unimpressed with Kurt’s eloquence, though, to be fair, he didn’t have to face the distracting sight Kurt was looking at.

“I said you lied. Why did you come back?”

“Ah, right!” Smiling brightly, Kurt walked over closer to the boy and held out a hand. “I came to apologize for yesterday. We didn’t mean to anger you, Peter’s just ..Good at taunting, I suppose.” Though he didn’t shake his hand, the wings seemed to drop a bit and relax, the annoyed expression being replaced by one of curiosity.

“ You came to apologize?”

“Yes.”

“Just that?”

“Indeed!”

Silence fell over them for a few seconds before the boy spoke again.

“Are you a telepath?” The question confused Kurt because the Professor and Jean were the only telepaths he knew and none of them were with him at the moment so he just shook his head. “No, why would you ask that?”

And just like yesterday, the boy seemed to try to figure him out, staring at him with a gaze so intense it had Kurt flushing and squirming awkwardly under it. 

“Nothing. No reason. Is there anything else you want from me?”

Suddenly, it hit Kurt that if the boy lived in the mountains, since he was always found there, and his shirt was gone…He probably either stole them from town or didn’t have any at the moment. If he did, he would’ve wore it, right? He reached into his pocket and pulled out the money, holding his hand out yet again, eyes falling right onto the naked chest that had his cheeks pinking even more.

“A-Ahh…Your shirt is gone…For you to buy a new one.” He mumbled quietly.

The boys eyes widened in surprise and a smirk quickly took over his features, chest pushing out and drawing Kurt’s attention back to it. He had, no doubt noticed him staring and it wasn’t like he was trying to be subtle about it, though, instead of punching him for staring like a creep, he seemed to show off more, wings fluttering slightly.

“As much as I appreciate the gesture.” Came the words dripped in sarcasm, “You shouldn’t worry yourself about my shirts. Or lack of them. Go back home.” And without waiting for an answer, he took off into the sky yet again.

Kurt didn’t return to the mountains after that, mostly because the Professor seemed busy with other things and their trip had to be postponed, and also because of the embarrassment and shame after (being caught) staring shamelessly at the other like that.

Two weeks passed by and he almost forgot about it, only to be reminded of it yet again at the sight of the object of his staring standing right in the mansion’s garden. Thankfully, he was wearing clothes though he looked awkward, standing tall and proud while glaring at everyone that seemed to look into his way as he searched for something. Said something turned out to be him, because as soon as Kurt got into his range of vision, he started to make his way right over to the mortified boy, clenching the books tightly to his chest.

“You didn’t come to the mountains anymore.”

It wasn’t was Kurt was expecting and obviously his confused reaction wasn’t what the boy expected because he frowned and Kurt’s cheeks flushed yet again because how do you explain that?

“I-I…Thought you don’t want me to…After what happened last time..”

The boy fell quiet for a second before shaking his head.

“W-Well..If it’s not a problem. I could come see you again..uhh..” He didn’t know his name. They never got around to introduce themselves after all, how silly.

“Warren.”

“Ah! Thank you! I’ll come see you again, Warren. My name is Kurt Wagner.” 

He held out his hand and this time, it was shaken with a surprisingly soft yet firm grip, as if the other- Warren was scared that Kurt would bolt at the first wrong move when it was actually the other way around. Kurt kept holding his hand even when he wanted to pull away, a wide grin forming on his face. 

“So, Warren, how about I show you around for a while? You don’t have to go so soon!” Kurt didn’t want for the protest about to come and dragged the boy into the mansion, showing him as many rooms as he could without violating anyone’s privacy. His friends seemed surprised to see him and almost jumped up to fight but a quick assurance that Warren, yes, that’s his name, wasn’t there to fight calmed the spirits. Or at least it was supposed to because it only seemed to intrigue everyone even more as to when did they get so close.

They made a quick escape from the embarrassing and uncomfortable questions and moved to the garden, choosing to sit up in a tree instead (Kurt climbing even though Warren insisted to help) of a bench. They sat in comfortable silence before Kurt decided to start a conversation and began talking about his time at the mansion, the things he learnt, all the new sights and people.

“What about you, though, are you all alone up there?”

“I suppose you could say that. I don’t know where the rest of my kin are. Humans chased us away from our home and we were supposed to meet on Genosha. As you can see, I’m the only one here.” Warren finally admitted. He was content with listening to Kurt talk about himself but the moment he said that, he sounded so empty and defeated it broke Kurt’s heart.

“You know…You could come and live here as well. It’s not…Bad. We provide and help each other.” The blond didn’t say anything to that, choosing to move himself in a more comfortable position, wings dropping over them almost protectively as he changed the subject.

“So, I’ve noticed this is a school for mutants? What’s your power?”

Realization dawned on Kurt that while other’s had visible mutations, like Warren himself, Kurt looked perfectly normal and didn’t seem to manifest anything in particular. His cheeks flamed up, not knowing how to explain what he was let alone how Warren would react to it.

“I-I…I’m not really…I don’t have any powers like them.” The other boy seemed to take it the wrong way because he suddenly tensed up, feathers puffing out to match the rest of him.

“So you’re a human? Living in a mansion of Mutants?! What the hell!?”

“N-Not exactly. My mom knows the Professor… I don’t know how to explain it-“

“There’s no need, I’m leaving. I got no interest in humans-“ Warren got up and Kurt’s hand quickly caught his wrist with a loud “Wait!” following after.  
“I-I….I could show you….If you take us to the cascade in the mountains?” 

In an instant, he found himself behind held up in strong arms, being carried bridal style to his everlasting embarrassment and off they were into the sky. Kurt just hoped that nobody saw them like that because if word caught around the mansion, and it always did, he’d never live it down. It was a whole new experience to fly like that and his fondness for Warren seemed to grow at the thought of him experiencing something like this everyday.

They landed down on the ground effortlessly, Warren setting Kurt down on the ground in front of the cascade. His arms crossed in front of his chest instantly and the glare he sent Kurt’s way ‘subtly hinted’ at how curious and impatient he was.

Now having to face the truth, Kurt couldn’t help but shake a bit as he started to take off his clothes, trying not to concentrate on the thought of Warren seeing him naked. The shirt flew off first and there was no response from his audience but as soon as he began to pull down his pants, the winged boy voiced his surprise. 

“What the hell are you doing?! Why are you stripping!?” They avoided each other’s eyes for different reasons, Kurt’s eyes set on the ground and trying hard to keep still under the other’s gaze on his body.

“I need to get in the water to show you…Just. Don’t ask questions for now. It’s already hard enough as it is.”

Though he didn’t look too happy about it, Warren shut his mouth and kept watching him curiously. Kurt motioned for him to turn around and he rolled his eyes, begrudgingly turning around to give him some privacy. He only turned around when he heard the loud splash as Kurt jumped in the water, staring at the clothes neatly folded on the ground at a safe distance before moving closer to the edge. He started to grow worried when Kurt didn’t come out for air and leaned closer to the water, calling out a few times. 

“Hey! Get back here! Are you ok? For fucks sake don’t tell me your power is not knowing how to fucking sw- AHH!” A very blue face appeared in front of his, marked with symbols, drops of water dripping down long eyelashes and catching the attention of glistening yellow eyes. They stared at each other before Kurt went back under, coming out further away and jumping, a long tail following after, the base a lighter shade than Kurt’s skin and following with different tones of blue that shaded into each other before ending with black. Warren was left awestruck at the sight, blinking owlishly as his wings dropped on the ground, no longer concentrating on them.

When Kurt returned to him, tail swaying under the water as he tried to remain surfaced, he was surprised to find out that the first thing that came out of Warren’s mouth wasn’t ‘You’re a freak.’ Or ‘ I thought mermen didn’t exist?’ but instead “Holy fuck, you’re gorgeous.”

He seemed to be surprised by what he said himself, cheeks turning a soft pink as he stared at Kurt with wide eyes but didn’t take it back, only reaching out with a hand towards his face, stopping millimeters away and silently asking for permission. When it was given; Kurt nodding his head and silently thanking every deity above for the fact that his skin color made it harder to notice just how bad he was blushing, Warren pressed a hand over his cheek, as gentle as possible, rubbing his thumb under his eye carefully before moving it lower to feel at the small scales over his neck, as well as his gills and the scars on his skin. 

He leaned away when his hand reached the water in it’s exploration of Kurt’s body, the flush on his face deepening yet looking mesmerized. To make the situation less awkward, Kurt asked him if he’d like to join him in the water.

“Why? So you can drag me under and feast on my flesh?” Warren joked.

“ That’s sirens. And they don’t drag you under, they have wings like you. We don’t kill humans, we just use them for procreation.” Kurt only realized what he said when the blond raised an eyebrow in response, making the blue boy even more flustered as he tried to explain. “Th-The females! The females do, We, uh…males are... Rare. So we don’t.”

“I’m pretty sure you guys can as well, just in different ways.” Warren, it seemed, took satisfaction in embarrassing Kurt as much as possible. “Enough about that for now. You need help getting out? I’m sure your friends are wondering where you went by now.”

In the end, he helped him out and even stayed with Kurt while they waited for him to dry, mapping Kurt’s body with his hands and eyes as if he couldn’t get enough of him. In return, he let Kurt do the same with his wings, albert reluctantly, even if in the end he seemed to enjoy the slender fingers massaging his back and moving through his feathers. In fact, he ended up liking it so much he about just melted on the ground, body going limp and almost falling asleep with Kurt sprawed on top of him and trying to get his attention.

“Warren, we- I need to get back. I can go on my own but you can’t just sleep here, come on!” He failed and they both ended up falling asleep anyway.  
They arrived back at the mansion late at night to a worried Professor that gave them a long rant about being careful and telling others when they leave, not to mention punishment for pulling such a stunt. He seemed to take mercy (and amusement) on them once he noticed how tired they looked, Kurt’s hair still having traces of grass in it along with a winged boy pressing closer to him ( almost dropping all over him) in a protective manner and sent them to bed.

Somehow, early in the morning, Warren left back home and Kurt woke up to the lack of his presence. He tried to act as normal as possible but it was hard to when everyone pointed out how happy he was to show Warren around and how distracted he was ( he didn’t mean to spill the hot tea all over Scott, honestly!). The teasing grew in full force when Warren returned to the mansion in the afternoon, the two immediately joining at the hip and that’s how the winged boy found himself being dragged into Kurt’s circle of friends without even noticing. And eventually moving into the mansion not even a month later because (he was weak) living alone in the mountains got lonely after a while and why move back and forth between the two locations when he could just stay in one?

Afterwards, it became a betting pool for everyone but Warren and Kurt over when they would start dating and who will do the first move. Peter won, apparently using Warren’s challenging steak against him yet again and getting him to kiss Kurt, who sealed the deal and asked him out.

If Kurt thought the teasing of his friends was bad, the true horror came in the form of his mother visiting, and after having a touching moment with the professor in which they talked about past issues, with her apologizing for leaving out of nowhere, she immediately seized the opportunity when she found the two of them cuddling in the living room.

“Ah? Charles, how could you forget to tell me my boy caught himself his own bird?”

Guess they’ll have to get used to it.

**Author's Note:**

> Art inspired by http://choco-java.tumblr.com/post/147090346253/a-bird-may-love-a-fish-signore-but-where-will , go check her out because he art is amazing!  
> As always, there will be typos and grammar mistakes because I hurry and never stop to proof read. Sorry and I hope you like it!


End file.
